Can't Raise pH

[sprungson]

100 degree outside air , 75 inside , you have no inside air issue , it's only 75 and 75 with windows closed when its real , same as 32 outside and 65 inside you don't have CO2 issue

Oh yeah, it was bad when it was bad. It was good when it's good. It's not bad when it's good and it's not good when it's bad. So you only have a CO2 issue when it's bad and you don't have a CO2 issue when it's good. I get it.

 

[HBtank]

Oh yeah, it was bad when it was bad. It was good when it's good. It's not bad when it's good and it's not good when it's bad. So you only have a CO2 issue when it's bad and you don't have a CO2 issue when it's good. I get it.

But what about when it's just OK?

 

[HBtank]

I have always followed the mantra of not chasing pH, especially when it seems to be in an acceptable range. It's can be a useful indicator of other issues, but seems to lead to problems when focused on itself.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Oh yeah, it was bad when it was bad. It was good when it's good. It's not bad when it's good and it's not good when it's bad. So you only have a CO2 issue when it's bad and you don't have a CO2 issue when it's good. I get it.

I have a headache now, like seriously

 

[gbroadbridge]

I'm used to pH being depressed in the summer months, since we have to seal up the house and live off A/C here in Arizona.
However, I can't seem to get my pH up lately. I ran an air line from my skimmer to outside with no effect. I have a CO2 scrubber on my skimmer. I switched from the outside line to running my CO2 skimmer in a recirculating setup. I dose alk, which isn't keeping the pH up. I've calibrated my pH probe, and it's accurate (Neptune Apex).
I've decided to switch from 2 part dosing to Kalk in an attempt to raise the pH.
I'm going to disassemble my skimmer to make sure that it isn't pulling any air from inside the house.
Any other suggestions as to what's going on here???

I don't see any probelms with your pH. It's pretty much normal.

 

[Hairyteeth]

So we all agree it’s good or ….

 

[sprungson]

So we all agree it’s good or ….

I understand why he's chasing higher pH. Higher pH (8.3-8.4) means faster coral growth

 

[sprungson]

I'm used to pH being depressed in the summer months, since we have to seal up the house and live off A/C here in Arizona.
However, I can't seem to get my pH up lately. I ran an air line from my skimmer to outside with no effect. I have a CO2 scrubber on my skimmer. I switched from the outside line to running my CO2 skimmer in a recirculating setup. I dose alk, which isn't keeping the pH up. I've calibrated my pH probe, and it's accurate (Neptune Apex).
I've decided to switch from 2 part dosing to Kalk in an attempt to raise the pH.
I'm going to disassemble my skimmer to make sure that it isn't pulling any air from inside the house.
Any other suggestions as to what's going on here???

Don't know if this is an option for you, but I raised my pH by adding limestone rock. Specifically stax rocks. https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/5-lb-stax-porous-oolitic-limestone-dry-rock-two-little-fishies/

 

[gbroadbridge]

I understand why he's chasing higher pH. Higher pH (8.3-8.4) means faster coral growth

Yeah, but like an extra 1/2 inch per year on most slow growers - not really worth the effort IMO

 

[ZombieEngineer]

I understand why he's chasing higher pH. Higher pH (8.3-8.4) means faster coral growth

Not necessarily. If coral growth was carbonate limited and alkalinity was held constant, then a higher pH could comparatively increase the growth rate. I don't think it has been adequately studied whether the pH is the cause for the faster growth or just merely that more of the available dkH of the aquarium is in the more usable carbonate form. It is entirely possible if not probable that the same effect can occur if you keep pH constant and increase alkalinity

 

[damsels are not mean]

I understand why he's chasing higher pH. Higher pH (8.3-8.4) means faster coral growth

Maybe, but does anyone who can actually grow coral long term (and who isn't trying to farm it) even want faster growth? It just means more work and possibly the need for a tank reset earlier, no?

 

[sdreefer619]

I wouldn’t try chasing numbers so much. Just keep an eye on it your ph looks fine

 

[sprungson]

Maybe, but does anyone who can actually grow coral long term (and who isn't trying to farm it) even want faster growth? It just means more work and possibly the need for a tank reset earlier, no?

I dunno. I raised my pH to 8.2 it didn't seem like a lot of work. To each their own dude.

 

[Freddy0144]

As mentioned, I would not be so concerned about chasing numbers. Rather, what is the overall health of the tank? How are the fish doing, how are the corals looking etc. What kind of polyp extension are you getting?

Also what kind of light are you running on the fuge? it may be able to flatten out those dips if you have a stronger light on the fuge assuming that you are running it opposite of your display light cycle. perhaps up the time that it runs too.

as will all things, go slow, and only change one thing at a time. If you are going to switch to Kalk then do that give it a month. If you dont have success then start looking at your Photo period on the fuge.

Lastly, just look at the animals in the tank if they are happy, I would not chase anything.

 

[damsels are not mean]

I dunno. I raised my pH to 8.2 it didn't seem like a lot of work. To each their own dude.

Well no raising ph is not that hard depending on what's limiting it. I meant more growth is more work. More dosing and less room for mistakes on dosing. More fragging. More rearranging. More coral warfare.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Don't know if this is an option for you, but I raised my pH by adding limestone rock. Specifically stax rocks. https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/5-lb-stax-porous-oolitic-limestone-dry-rock-two-little-fishies/

FWIW, I do not see any mechanism for oolitic limestone to raise the pH of seawater unless it is very low (pH 7.7 or lower) and is low enough to begin dissolving coral skeletons.

 

[sprungson]

FWIW, I do not see any mechanism for oolitic limestone to raise the pH of seawater unless it is very low (pH 7.7 or lower) and is low enough to begin dissolving coral skeletons.

This is what happened for me after I added limestone

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This is what happened for me after I added limestone

Maybe the pH change is due to something else (like opened windows), is a test error, or the material is not actually limestone (calcium carbonate).

But limestone cannot raise the pH of seawater that is at pH 8.0. It's a simple fact that calcium carbonate is supersaturated in seawater at pH 8.0, and cannot dissolve or otherwise raise pH. That is exactly why corals make skeletons out of calcium carbonate: they do not dissolve in normal seawater.

 

[sprungson]

Only change was adding 3 medium sized Stax rocks. They claim limestone but I'm not sure what exactly is made from I suppose.

I tried the window thing one day but it's too warm hehe.

I did lose one tang to a carpet anemone. Maybe less CO2 from that

 

[atnet360]

FWIW, I'm also in the Phoenix area and have noticed a drop in pH since the weather got hot. Last few weeks its held steady between about 8.0 and 8.1.

I went on vacation recently, leaving my tank for the first time. I was super nervous to leave the tank so I was checking Fusion regularly to see what was going on. About 24 hours after leaving I logged in and my hear skipped a beat when I saw the pH graph. pH was over 8.2. Only took a second to realize that pH was up because there was no one in the house producing CO2. pH stayed high all week while we were out of town, and dropped back down to 8.0 within hours of getting home.

So, I decided to try an experiment and ran my skimmer intake out the window. I wasn't sure if that would be enough to see similar results, since there's still a lot of surface area inside the house, but the results for me at least were pretty definitive.

Current set-up is no good for long term--its literally just a hose sticking out the window--but I will probably rig up something permanent since I'm getting a pretty solid .15 bump in pH. I wasn't too concerned with pH, but this is an easy win.

As for "chasing" pH...I say to each their own. If you're using generally accepted practices (kalk, outside air, co2 scrubbers) to get higher pH, I doubt you're going to do any harm. My tank is at a stage where I want faster growth, my frags are little thumb size nubs. God willing, someday I'll have big beautiful colonies, and maybe dialing back the pH will be a good way to slow down the growth.

I wouldn't stress about it though. And if these generally accepted approaches aren't yielding results, I probably just wouldn't worry about it.